Manila, The Philippines (Day 1)
When we woke up on May 5 Amsterdam was docked at the best located pier in Manila, right near the port gate. Manila is the capital of the Philippines, with a population of more than 12 million in its governing district. After periods of control by the Malays and the Sultan of Brunei, the Spanish ruled here for more than 300 years beginning in the middle of the 16th century. The Americans took over in 1898 after the Spanish American war, then the country became independent after World War II.
There is concern about piracy in the waters of this area, so Amsterdam had instituted anti-piracy procedures when we set sail for the Philippines. This had also been done in 2016 before entering the Red Sea but this time there was no razor wire strung around the lower promenade deck. Instead we just had the water hoses and long range ear shattering noise machines at the ready, and the lights were turned off at night while a beefed up security team kept watch across the water. We had a piracy drill (go to a protected area inside the ship) and we were told that we were being followed constantly by radar with warships not far away. So of course nothing happened. But better safe than sorry.
We also noticed in this area that there is a lot of trash floating in the water. This is a pretty disappointing sight & it would be nice if there were some international effort to do something about it.
Anyway, since we were docked so close to the old part of Manila we decided to walk around and explore it ourselves. As we left the ship we were greeted by a very lively xylophone band dancing as they played, and some local women welcomed us with necklaces (as had been done in Puerto Princesa as well).
A lot of construction was in progress at the port and it took some time to negotiate our way to the gate. In this area we also saw the first of many anti-drug signs; from what we have read in the Philippines these days a person suspected of dealing in drugs is as likely to die from summary police execution as from the effects of the drugs. Then there were a few blocks to walk out of the port to the main street. Along this street were countless fellows wanting to sell you rides and tours. We kept saying “no thank you,” but it was odd to see someone who has just watched you reject 10 people selling the same tour step out nonetheless to ask if you want to hire him. I guess it doesn’t hurt to ask, but how often can that be successful?
It was a much longer walk than expected to reach the Intramuros (“inside the walls”) area, the old town. That was because there was a very long fence with no gates along the side of the wall facing the main street near the dock. The old city is surrounded by walls, originally built by the Spanish in the 16th century. They also built a double moat, but the Americans found it unsanitary and filled it in, then built a golf course over it. Today the golf course runs all along the wall, so there is no entrance to Intramuros through it.
The traffic in Manila is horrendous & you take your life in your hands when you try to cross the street. This was another reason our walks took so long and difficult in the heat and humidity. A lot of local folks get around in what is called a “jeepny,” a sort of jitny made by welding a bus-like structure to the back of a jeep. These appeared after the war, made out of surplus US Army jeeps. They are very colorful and, we are told, inexpensive and fun to ride. We didn’t have an opportunity to try one.
The Manila Cathedral stands on what was the central square of old Manila, called Plaza Mayor. First completed around 1580, it was destroyed by a typhoon within 2 years and has been destroyed and rebuilt some 6 times. The current building was destroyed, along with almost everything else in Intramuros, by Japanese and American bombs and shelling during the Battle of Manila in 1945 when the Japanese forces made their last stand here. More than 100,000 Filipino civilians were killed in one month during that battle, many through indiscriminate massacres by Japanese solders occupying the area. The cathedral was rebuilt along the same lines as the previous one in the mid 1950’s.
Playa Mayor in front of the cathedral had several art installations. On the left, looking from the cathedral, was a large building labeled as the governor’s residence. We weren’t sure which governor this referred to (Spanish or American?) or whether this building represented what the governor’s residence looked like or just marked the spot where it stood.
Walking on we passed some interesting wall art & came to a very nice little park with a monument at the center erected in 1995. Called “Memorare Manila,” it memorializes those lost in the Battle of Manila. A woman in the center holds a dead baby and is surrounded by other dead people and a victim of rape.
It was not too long a walk to San Agustin Church, completed in 1607. This is a UNESCO World Heritage site and famed as the only building in Intramuros to survive the fighting in 1945, when only its roof was destroyed.
One enters through what was once a convent attached to the church but has now been rebuilt as a museum. The museum tells the story of Manila through text and artifacts. Manila was a trading outpost for the Spanish, who exchanged silver mined in their Mexican and South American colonies for Chinese silks, ivory and porcelain, along with spices and gems from other parts of Asia. The Spanish galleons carried on this trade on a route between Manila and Acapulco for 300 years.
The baroque interior of the church itself is quite beautiful. Of particular interest to us was the ceiling and walls, which are covered by extraordinarily effective trompe l’oeil paintings of what appear to the naked eye to be architectural details. It wasn’t until we got very close that we could see that it was painted rather than real.
In the balcony is an old pipe organ and a wooden music stand that is several centuries old and holds some 17th century sheet music. Around the balcony are 68 choir seats, carved and inlaid in the early 17th century.
We also happened upon the church library, nicely finished in polished wood with a globe.
Between the church and the museum is a courtyard containing a small park called the cloisters.
There was actually quite a bit more in this facility, including a lot of old paintings and artifacts, but this was the main stuff (and all that we have pictures of).
Leaving the church, we walked to Rizal Park. This is a huge park with a lot of features we didn’t have time to explore. It is dedicated to Jose Rizal, an important Filipino martyr during the war for independence from the Spanish in the 1890’s. Rizal was executed in this park for treason and his remains are now interred under the monument to him at the front of the park.
Most of the flowers we saw this day were in the park, so this is a good place to show some of them.
We managed to find the National Library, which was on one side of Rizal Park. It was large & you had to present your identification to a policeman at a podium outside the door to gain entrance. The library seemed to be in the midst of renovation, with lots of empty shelves and books piled up in empty rooms. We found one room that was in use as a library, but when I took a picture I was admonished that this is not allowed. Why would a library be a secret?
We walked back to the ship, a pretty long way on a very hot and humid day. We saw statues of Benigno and Corazon Aquino, leaders of the movement that overthrew the Marcos regime. We also saw homeless people sleeping in the park.
By the time we negotiated our way back to the ship we were dead tired. That much exercise out In the heat and humidity, fighting dreadful traffic, can really take it out of you. We didn’t see everything we had intended to see but we saw quite a lot that was very interesting and learned a lot about this huge city. And we still had another day to spend here. Manila was lit up in the night as we headed for bed.
Puerto Princesa, Philippines
Amsterdam docked in Puerto Princesa on the morning of March 3. So, welcome to . . .
Founded by the Spanish in 1872, Puerto Princesa today has a population of about a quarter of a million people. It is the capital of Palawan province and the westernmost city in the Philippines.
It was a hot and humid day as we left the ship to walk into town. The streets near the port were not very picturesque but there were many nice flowers we saw throughout the day.
Our first stop was to visit the Immaculate Conception Cathedral. Built in 1961 on the spot where the first mass was celebrated a few days after Puerta Princesa was founded, it was undergoing restoration when we were there. A white building with blue windows and two towers that can be seen from the port, it is one of the more distinctive buildings in town. In front of the church is a statue of Jose Rizal, an important Philippine hero & martyr, a leader in the campaign for independence from Spain at the end of the 19th century who was executed at the age of 35 for treason.
We walked on to the Palawan Museum further into the downtown area. The streets were pretty mundane, but we saw a lot of what they call “tricycles.” These operate like taxis, but consist of a metal enclosure for two or three people attached to a motorcycle. A lot of them stopped as we walked to offer us a ride; apparently it is difficult to believe that folks of our age can walk places in this kind of weather. But we politely declined them all and continued walking. The flags hanging over the streets were apparently in preparation for a holiday parade the day after our visit to commemorate the founding of the city.
The Palawan Museum reviews the history, cultures & ecology of the area. People have been living in this area for well over 10,000 years and there are a number of ancient artifacts here. They have items recovered from sunken Spanish galleons, including porcelain originating in China. We also saw models of a number of indigenous fauna. Housed in a building that used to be the city hall, this is not a big museum but it is very nice. Air conditioning would be a helpful addition!
Next door to the museum is the very small public library. Unfortunately it was closed the day we were there so we could not see the inside. The museum and library both border Mendoza Park where a dancing group was rehearsing, presumably for the imminent holiday.
We walked through a Chinese neighborhood with a large shopping mall. Its streets were decorated with Chinese red lanterns instead of flags. Like some other cities we have seen in Southeast Asia, Puerto Princesa’s streets were lined with many electrical wires meeting in massively tangled junctions.
We walked back toward the cathedral. Right across the street is a park called Plaza Cuartel. This was a Japanese garrison during World War II. On December 14, 1944 they detected a large American task force that they feared was headed their way. They herded their 150 American POW’s into an air raid shelter tunnel in the Plaza and set it on fire, burning the Americans alive. Eleven of them escaped with the aid of Philippine guerillas. There is a small sculpture in the park commemorating the victims, along with several large placards that tell their story in words and pictures. Today this is a very nice park, apart from the memorial to its grizzly history, with many colorful flowers and a nice view of the bay.
From the Plaza we headed back to the ship. We passed a school and some houses with interesting decorations made of old bicycle tires. We passed Amsterdam’s Hotel Manager, Henk, riding alone on his bicycle built for two, and also another copy of a notice we saw posted all around town seeking workers for South Korea. Near the port was some laundry hung out to dry on a barbed wire fence: no need for clothespins to keep these clothes from blowing away in the wind. And there was a giant municipal Christmas tree on a walk along the bay.
As the ship prepared to leave that evening the locals wished us “Bon Voyage” with dance & music.
Across the bay we could see from Amsterdam’s Lido deck a fishing village complete with boats & houses on stilts. We saw several double-outrigger fishing boats nearer the ship as well, probably heading for home.
As we pulled away from the pier the sun began to go down & the bay was alight with gray clouds and slate blue sea. It was dramatic enough to warrant more than one picture.
So that was all for Puerto Princesa as the ship headed out to sea and we headed to dinner.
Bali, Indonesia (Day 2)
Before we get to what we did on February 27, our second day in Bali, the last episode ended with a promise of Balinese dancers. This was an excellent dance troop, very graceful in executing complicated and subtle dances. The Gamelan orchestra was really good too. You might think their music was just cacophony if you did not pay close attention, but it was actually quite beautiful. The orchestra played a piece and then there were four dances, including a warrior’s dance & a bird dance (can’t remember what the other ones were called).
Our second day was to be dedicated to the master craft studios of the Ubud-Mas area. The local royal family began cultivating artists and artisans in the 1930’s and it became a center for native and foreign artists. It was not until the 1980’s that it began to grow into the large town (about 30,000) known for its arts that is so attractive to foreign visitors today. One could easily spend several days exploring Ubud’s palaces, galleries and museums but we didn’t have that kind of time so we opted to spend our time at several art & craft galleries in the area.
As on the first day, the traffic leaving the port was really bad. Crossing a bridge we had a glimpse of Mt Agung, the volcano that has erupted a couple of times in the last six months. Unfortunately, the picture was taken from the back of a bouncing van, so its pretty unclear, but it’s the only one we have. We also passed people working in their rice fields. The people of Bali give offerings to the Hindu gods pretty much every day. Consisting mostly of fruit and flowers, often in a small tray that is sometimes placed in a small shrine, you see these everywhere. Our driver was no exception.
Our first stop was at a textile gallery. Most of these galleries had people working on the products as well as a showroom for purchases. The textile place specializes in batik. There are three techniques, in order of increasing difficulty (and price): printing on the fabric, hand stamping patterns of color, and using dye and wax to create the entire colored pattern by hand.
A weaver was also working outside the shop. Most of the workers we saw were outside the galleries; cooler presumably, and also good advertising.
Next we visited a silver studio and gallery called Yan Yan. We really have no idea where in the Ubud area each of these galleries was; it often seemed to take quite a bit of driving to get from one to the other. We did not walk the streets of Ubud, but just drove to various galleries. All were interesting though, both to see the craftsmen at work and their finished wares.
Inside, the showroom was extensive including several rooms of jewelry and unusual sculpture.
In the courtyard out front was a statue of Ganesh, the elephant headed Hindu god. There were some lovely flowers as well. Across the street was a house that must belong to a wealthy person.
After Yan Yan, Gede took us to visit what he described as a typical Balinese house. It was more of a compound of one room buildings than a house, surrounded by a wall. It seems doubtful that poor Balinese can afford digs like this, so this must be a typical middle class house. Daytime activity apparently takes place outdoors where it is a little cooler, with sleeping indoors. We were given some of the impossibly thinly sliced pancakes, which were quite good.
In the back of the compound was an area set aside for shrines. But that didn’t mean there weren’t offering trays elsewhere.
Many colorful flowers decorated the family compound.
Several chickens were penned into small woven baskets and a rooster was strutting around near them. A porcupine was nearby. In front of the street gate of the compound sat a stone guard looking very cool with a red flower above each of his ears. I guess he was wishing us a friendly goodbye.
After this we visited a wood carving shop. This may have been the most interesting one of all, chock full of fantastic carvings. Unfortunately, no photos were allowed inside. But outside we watched some of the craftsmen carving and finishing wood sculptures. Really interesting.
We had lunch at a restaurant called Bebek Joni, which was open on one side to a series of rice paddies. The food was very good (we had duck) & really inexpensive.
As usual in Bali, there were stone sculptures, even in front of the restrooms. In the rice paddy was a very large female goddess (presumably), & the rice paddies were, as always, picturesque.
After lunch we went to our last stop of the day: Semar Kiming painters’ cooperative. No photography was permitted inside the gallery, which was huge with a wide variety of paintings. While we were in the front room talking to the manager we heard a siren & a police car appeared leading a caravan of vans. He indicated we should move along to the next room & we thought maybe it was a visit by a foreign dignitary. It turned out to be a HAL tour!
On our way back to the ship Gede stopped the van to view a really spectacular traffic circle sculpture of an important Hindu story that is the basis for a well known Balinese dance.
And so we came to the end of a two day adventure that was pretty much the top highlight of the voyage to this point. It would have been even cooler if the following picture were real rather than fantasy (although, come to think of it, this might have resulted in chaos), but as it was everyone had a really great time. You may think you have seen this picture earlier, but look at it closely.
Bali, Indonesia (Day 1)
We arrived in Benoa, Bali early on the morning of February 26 for a two day visit. Along with our tablemates we had rented a van, complete with driver and guide, for the full two days. This was quite economical compared to the alternatives (there is nothing you can walk to from the pier) and it also allowed us the flexibility to decide for ourselves where to go and when, although for the most part we followed our guide Gede’s excellent advice. This is definitely not a place where you should drive yourself, as the traffic is unbelievable. We were welcomed as we left the ship by a Gamelan orchestra and some Balinese dancers.
Last time we were here we took a day long excursion to several impressive temples and palaces in eastern Bali. You can see that here:
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This time we set out for central Bali. The traffic around the port was horrendous but eventually our excellent driver got us through it and we headed for a monkey forest called Obyek Wisata Sangeh. There are at least five monkey forests in Bali that can be visited and the monkeys in some of them have very bad reputations for stealing items from tourists (like sunglasses or cameras) and even for biting & scratching. In others the monkeys stay away from visitors high in the trees. Ours was in the Goldilocks zone between these extremes, since the monkeys were very friendly and did not bite or steal anything. The forest was of nutmeg trees, very tall and imposing, and there were some sculptures and an old temple near the beginning.
The monkeys looked like the flying monkeys from The Wizard Of Oz, with points of hair on top of their heads. The monkeys appear to be well trained to climb on the backs of visitors, knowing that the fellows who work here will give them something to eat if they do. Still, it was fun and the monkeys made it onto the shoulders of everybody but Mary, who shooed them away.
Even without people, the monkeys were fun to watch.
From the monkey forest we drove on to a Hindu temple called Pura Ulun Danu Bratan. Bali is full of temples, some 10,000 in all according to our guide. And that doesn’t include small shrines in what seems to be just about every house you pass. Built in 1633 on the shore of Lake Bratan, Ulun Danu Bratan is some 3600 feet above sea level & one of the most important temples in Bali. It is dedicated to Dewi Danu, a water and fertility goddess, and is an important pilgrimage site for the Balinese. On the day we visited the weather was chilly & wet with the mountains behind the lake hidden by a thick cloud. You could not go into the temple & its grounds outside were thick with tourists. Despite all that it was quite beautiful.
Outside on the temple grounds there was a bit of a Disneyland atmosphere, with figures of beasts & birds, even Spongebob Squarepants. In the lake you could rent bird shaped pedal boats. Quite incongruous at a religious shrine. As you walked into the grounds there was a sign with rules, one of which seemed pretty offensive to women.
We walked around the temple toward the lake side. There were some small pavilions & some double outrigger boats near the path.
Around the back of the temple on the lake were several islands containing pavilions and sculptures. They looked like they were floating, but we don’t think they really were. One had bamboo surrounded by two dragons and the others had several pavilions and sculptures. They were quite beautiful, even with the mountains behind them invisible because of the low cloud cover.
Bali is filled with flowers, many of which we saw at this temple. So this is a good place for the flora section. Hang on, there are a lot of them!
Stone carvings are very big in Bali; you see them everywhere & often pass stone carving shops when driving around the island. There are many stone carvings at this temple, including a large Buddhist stupa with golden statues of Buddha in it facing in each of the four directions. We came across a Dik-Dik, a small species of antelope, that was penned on the grounds. There was also a large banyan tree dressed up in a skirt.
Given the choice of eating inside the temple grounds or outside we decided to go to a buffet restaurant not far from the temple. As soon as we stepped inside the heavens opened up & it poured rain; the rain stopped shortly before we left. So that seemed like a good omen. The lunch was very good & surprisingly inexpensive.
After lunch Gede took us to a produce market. Quite colorful, but really unnecessary. One fellow there was selling “Rolex” watches for $10 (with a lifetime guarantee!). He had them mounted on a board & when no one bought he lowered the price to $5. Still no one bought, so he went down to $2.00 without any success. As we wandered through the market, Bob encountered him again on another aisle and, apparently not recognizing him, the guy asked for $10. Bob said “What happened to the $2.00,” and that was the last we saw of him.
Next we went to see a landscape of rice terraces that is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site. As we understand it, these are separate farmers’ fields, each with a storage building, but the Subak water distribution system is operated cooperatively. The water appears to filter down from terrace to terrace. At the top was a water trough with a tiny water wheel, & the water seems to originate from one of the mountain lakes, but we weren’t sure about all that. We were quite sure that this area is very beautiful.
Time was now getting short so we went to see another famous temple. We had wanted to see one called Uluwatu, which is perched on a high cliff. But road construction had made the traffic in that area impossible so we went to a temple called Tanah Lot. It is on an island just off the coast and is accessible from the shore only at low tide. It wasn’t low tide when we were there and we aren’t sure that non-Hindus would have been admitted anyway. The sun was getting low in the sky, which made for a beautiful vista.
A small temple called Pura Batu Balong was a short walk up the coast from Tanah Lot. It was on an island connected to the mainland by a natural bridge.
We left Tanah Lot & drove back to the ship after a very full day. There was a Balinese dance performance on the ship, but this episode is already too long so tomorrow’s episode will start with that show.
Freemantle, Australia
We arrived at Freemantle for an overnight stay at 4:00 PM on February 21. Founded in 1829, when Captain Charles Freemantle claimed all of western Australia for England, it is located at the mouth of the Swan River about 12 miles from Perth, the capital of Western Australia, and is one of the main ports in the region. Its population is close to 30,000 today.
Once the ship was cleared by the dock officials we walked out of the harbor and crossed a metal pedestrian bridge over the railroad tracks. On the dock by the ship was a small band of Australians singing “Waltzing Matilda.”
Walking toward the center of town we passed several old churches.
Freemantle (known locally as “Freo”) is characterized by its many Victorian buildings, some of which we passed on our walk the first afternoon.
In the middle of town we saw the Town Hall, opened in 1887, with its imposing clock tower. The garish asymmetrical yellow stripes at the top were a mystery until later on the second day. Near it was a small platform with plants called the “Tiny Park,” intended as a brief respite from crowds on busy days. It was very tiny, maybe 8 feet in length.
Returning to the ship we had to clear Australian security, which turned out to be absurdly tight. We had to remove everything metal to get through the detector, including Rick’s belt & wallet. Mary had to be wanded because of her titanium knee . . . and the rivets on her blue jeans. It was silly, since the only place you could go afterward was on the ship, which has its own metal detectors that are not quite as tightly wound. So if that was good enough for the ship it seemed it should be good enough for the Australians.
We had thought to spend the second day in Perth. But we were leaving at 4:00 & Perth was a train ride away, and we hadn’t seen much of Freemantle. So we decided to spend the second day in Freemantle and save Perth for another visit. This turned out to be a good choice.
So after breakfast we left the ship and headed to the left this time to find the Freemantle Arts Centre. On the way we passed what looks like a nice cruise ship with large windows in every room. Actually, it is the world’s largest sheep transport ship, which would be taking export sheep to the Middle East. We could almost see the sheep checking into their rooms and unpacking before heading to the buffet for breakfast! In fact the ship was empty at that time, but we were told that when it is full you can smell it before you see it.
The Freemantle Arts Centre was built by convicts in the 1860’s as the Freemantle Lunatic Asylum. The current exhibit was “Museum Of Water” and our friend Robert, who was already there, told us it consisted entirely of jars of water with labels of where they were collected. So we decided we didn’t need to see that. The grounds were lovely, though, with some nice flowers & some birds nearby.
We decided to visit the Freemantle Prison next, but it took a great deal of looking before we found it. The prison was built in the 1850’s by the first group of convicts transported here from England. Before the convict transportation system was shut down in 1886 some 10,000 men had been sent here. It was used as the local prison after that until 1991, when it was closed and opened to the public for visiting. The remains of the eleven convict prisons in Australia are all part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the one in Freemantle is in the best condition (after some restoration).
Our friends Robert & Bill were at the prison when we arrived & we were in the same group for the tour. Our delightful guide, Moira, was full of interesting stories & was a dramatic story teller. We set out to walk through the cell blocks, depressing to say the least.
We visited the prison library and the chapel. Then Moira took us down for a look at the solitary confinement building, where each cell had an inner and outer door & a food slot. Outside was the site for lashings with a cat o’ nine-tails, which Moira deftly demonstrated on one of the hapless visitors.
Headed for the Shipwreck Galleries, we walked past what appeared to be the rugby stadium, the Freemantle Market (built in 1897), only open on weekends, and an odd street sign & some wall art.
The Shipwreck Galleries are housed in a building built by convicts in the 1850’s as a government warehouse. It houses artifacts & displays relating to . . . shipwrecks in western Australia. Its prize display is of part of the hull of the Dutch ship Batavia, which sank in 1829 on its way to Batavia (now Jakarta). Among other things, it was carrying stones intended to complete the gates of the city of Batavia, which have now been assembled in the museum. The full story of the Batavia sinking is a lurid one, and the museum also presents the story of its recovery in 1972.
We stopped for a delicious lunch of fish & chips at a nearby restaurant called Char Char then headed over to the Round House. The Round House (actually an octagon) was built in 1831 to serve as the local jail and is the oldest remaining building in Western Australia. It is built on the spot where Captain Freemantle claimed western Australia for the crown. It had 8 cells opening onto a central courtyard. A tunnel was built below it to enable whalers to transfer their catch directly from the water into the town.
Meanwhile, remember those garish yellow stripes on the top of the Town Hall? It turns out that they are part of a temporary art installation that can only be seen properly from the steps of the Round House. From there it looks like a large tunnel made of yellow semicircles stretching down the street to the Town Hall. From below it doesn’t.
Back on the ship for the sail away, we could see Perth in the distance (about 12 miles away) & the sheep ship being loaded. A huge solid body Japanese ship was nearby unloading Toyotas. And there was a yacht that the Captain told us cost 200 million US dollars (10 years earlier the Amsterdam hand cost only $50 million more than that).
As we sailed away we had one last view of Freemantle in the sunny afternoon, then as we left the port we passed a forest of yacht masts. This was our last glimpse of Australia as we headed into the Indian Ocean toward Indonesia.
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